School District 3 names administrators

IVA - The board of trustees for Anderson School District 3 has named several replacements for outgoing administrators.

At its meeting Monday night, the Iva-based school board considered several issues including the administrative recommendations and a budget proposal.

The board named Jennifer Anderson to the position of assistant superintendent for the district. That post was previously held by Gail Southard before she took the helm for outgoing Superintendent Hugh Smith in 2009. Anderson currently serves as the assistant principal for Marshall Primary in Honea Path-based Anderson School District 2.

The board also named Elizabeth Johnson to be the coordinator of Title 1 programs for the district. She previously served as the district's curriculum coach and coordinator.

And finally, the board named Barry Jacks as principal of Starr Iva Middle School. Jacks will replace Mike Ruthsatz, who announced his retirement earlier this year. Jacks is now the principal of Wright Middle School in Abbeville.

The board also heard a proposal for the district's budget for the 2012-13 school year.

"They discussed the budget, but no decisions have been made," said Eddie Vickery, associate superintendent for the district. "It's still in the working stage until they get the final numbers from the state. We are in a better situation than we were in previous years."

Vickery said the district does not anticipate making any cuts to the budget this year.

Keith Martin, finance director for the district, said that under the budget passed by the South Carolina House of Representatives in March, the district is set to increase its revenues by more than $713,000.

That budget allocates $2,012 per student in base student costs, and requires districts to give teachers a 2 percent raise.

Martin said District 3's budget would give all of the district's employees raises. Two positions would be eliminated, he said, due to attrition, but some positions of leadership would be restored, as would contract days for employees.

The district's proposed budget of $16.6 million would require it to take more than $275,000 from the reserve fund, which currently stands at more than $3 million.

District 3 serves students in the southern corner of the county in both Starr and Iva. The district has five schools and more than 2,500 students, and is the smallest of the county's five school districts.

No final figures will be available until the state completes the budget. The Senate is scheduled to bring its version of the budget to the floor this week. Once it is completed, the budget will have to go to a conference committee before being sent to Gov. Nikki Haley for her signature. Haley is widely expected to veto portions of the budget.

The state's, and by default the schools', fiscal year begins on July 1.